believe it or not

Idioms  

1. It's true, whether or not you agree, as in Believe it or not, I finally finished painting the house. Originating in the 1800s, this phrase gained currency as the title of a cartoon series begun in 1918 by Robert Ripley and continuing to run in American newspapers long after his death in 1949. Each drawing presented a strange but supposedly true phenomenon, such as a two-headed chicken.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

believe it or not

If Infantino somehow pushes through his scheme to sell shares in the World Cup, he will do so — believe it or not — by casting himself as a defender of the downtrodden and underprivileged.

From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2026

Winston Churchill, believe it or not, called himself a liberal, as did John Maynard Keynes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026

Umeda’s U.S. tour included various cities and even, believe it or not, the Kennedy Center.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2026

But, believe it or not, Ponomari's stand-in role might not have been the most surprising on the Wuthering Heights set.

From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2026

Olive had married her young man, and Mollie was married and living, believe it or not, in an apartment in San Francisco.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck